Comparison study of paroxetine and clomipramine in treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder:a multicentre parallel randomized double-blind study

Objective To compare the efficacy and tolerability of paroxetine and clomipramine in treating patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods The study was a multicentre parallel randomized double-blind clinical trial. Three centers participated in this trial,with 73 patients receiving paroxetine and 73 receiving clomipramine treatment for 10 weeks. The diagnosis of OCD was made according to the 4 th edition of Diagnostic statistical Manual of Mental Disorder criteria. Results Five of the 146 cases dropped out,with 1 in paroxetine group,4 in clomipramine group. The patients in both groups showed significant improvement of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology according to the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale score. The clinical recovery rates were 21% and 28% with total improved rates of 93% and 90%,respectively. Concerning tolerability,there were significantly higher adverse reactions in the clomipramine group,with adverse event incidence of 43% in comparison with 18% in paroxetine. Conclusions The results show that paroxetine and clomipramine have similar efficacy in treatment of patients with OCD,but paroxetine has better toleration.